One of the most critical funtions that computers are used for is email. Most users stick with the standard Outlook Express application provided by Windows. But, there are many free options available that give you the same basic tasks with a few unique extras to help your productivity.

One example of a free email client is Mozilla's Thunderbird. It works similarly to Outlook by managing your virtual folders, spam filtering and providing a myriad of add-ons to customize your email client. By installing Mozilla Sunbird, you have an integrated calendar to use with the email client.

Another free email client is Eudora. This program offers some unique features like Mood Watch (Eudora assigns a rating to an email based on its language such as 1 chili pepper for mildly offensive to 3 chilies for vulgar content) and an email usage chart (it keeps track of how much time you spend on an email and when you use email most frequently).

Here's a list of other popular free email clients and a comparison of common features: